Sunil Tripathi was identified through a forensic dental exam, but a cause of death has not been determined, said Dara Chadwick, a spokeswoman for the state health department.

Tripathi's family, of Bryn Mawr, Pa., said it was overcome with grief but grateful for the outpouring of support relatives got over the last month.

"As we carry indescribable grief, we also feel incredible gratitude," the Tripathi family said in a statement on a Facebook page set up to help find Tripathi, who went by Sunny. "To each one of you - from our hometown to many distant lands - we extend our thanks for the words of encouragement, for your thoughts, for your hands, for your prayers, and for the love you have so generously shared."

Tripathi's body was found Tuesday by members of the Brown crew team off of India Point Park and was brought to shore by its coach, Providence Police Cmdr. Thomas Oates said.

Tripathi's family had been searching for him since mid-March with help from the FBI and fellow Brown students. His sister, Sangeeta, said he left his phone, wallet and other belongings in his apartment near campus and simply disappeared. He was on leave from the Ivy League school, where he was studying philosophy, and had been going through a difficult time, she said.

Last week, speculation swirled on the Internet, including on the site Reddit, that Tripathi was the second of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings because some thought he resembled one of the people in photos released by the FBI. That person turned out to be 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, authorities said.

Reddit later apologized to Tripathi's family for fueling "online witch hunts and dangerous speculation which spiraled into very negative consequences for innocent parties."

Tripathi's family said in its statement Thursday that the last month "has changed our lives forever, and we hope it will change yours too."

The family went on: "Take care of one another. Be gentle, be compassionate. Be open to letting someone in when it is you who is faltering. Lend your hand. We need it. The world needs it."

Unsolved Massachusetts murders, disappearances

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One of Boston's strangest unsolved murders involves a Swedish au pair, Karina Holmer, 20, who's severed body was found in a Back Bay dumpster after a night out with friends in 1996.

Lawyers for Boston Marathon bomber Dzkokhar Tsarnaev rested their case in his federal death penalty trial Tuesday after presenting a brief case aimed at showing his late older brother was the mastermind of the 2013 terror attack.